...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties !Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)

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"1169 And Counting is a wealth of information on our Republican past and present , and demonstrates how the Irish political landscape , like that of any nation, will never be a black and white issue..."

IRISH BLOG AWARDS 2017 - ooops! It seems that our entry application was "not completed in time to be considered.." (?) and, as such, we are not now in the running. But we wish all the best to the successful entrants and to the organisers, and we hope all goes well for them on the day!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO....?

On A Walk Through Rebel Dublin with the Patriot and Heroine Anne Devlin and Charles Stewart Parnell ,Charlie Kerins ,Charlotte Despard, and Che Guevara , we talked ,with A Servant of the Queen , about A Compact History of Ireland .

It was a Courious Journey, this Oral History of Ireland’s Unfinished Revolution and many of the Milestones in Irish History were discussed , as we passed through Dublin Tenement Life . We had No Faith in the System , so we agreed on a Secret Map of Ireland but promised that , despite the Partition of Ireland and all of the ensuing Raids and Rallies , we would not strive for same On Another Man’s Wound.........see what else is available here! Finally - in answer to the question asked at the top of this post - keep an account of next years time with one of these - - a 2008 Republican calendar,available from here for a fiver (Euro or Sterling) ! Calendars, books, pamphlets, CD's, tapes, T-Shirts etc - all of a Republican 'flavour' - make great 'stocking fillers' and , indeed , make great presents all year round. Visit the Dublin shop at 223 Parnell Street ('phone 01-8729747) or the Belfast shop at 229 Falls Road ('phone 90319004) to make your choice . Thanks ! Sharon.

Friday, November 23, 2007

They gave their lives for you and me and the generations yet unborn . May they be remembered forever -

SEÁN SABHAT of Limerick City . Gave his life for Ireland on January 1 , 1957 .PATRICK PARLE of Wexford Town . Gave his life for Ireland on November 11 , 1957 .GEORGE KEEGAN of Enniscorthy , County Wexford . He gave his life for Ireland on November 11 , 1957 .PAUL SMITH of Bessbrook , County Armagh . He gave his life for Ireland on November 11 , 1957 .MICHAEL WATTERS of Edentubber , County Louth . He gave his life for Ireland on November 11 , 1957 .OLIVER CRAVEN of Newry , County Down . He gave his life for Ireland on November 11 , 1957 .FEARGAL Ó hANNLUAIN of Monaghan Town . Gave his life for Ireland on January 1 , 1957 .

These are the men who gave their lives for freedom in Ireland in 1957 , one-hundred-and-sixty-seven years after the first Irish Republican martyr , William Orr, was hanged for the 'crime' of wanting his country separated from Britain .

Except for Michael Watters , who was 55 years of age , the rest were young men under 30 . Paul Smith was only 19 , Oliver Craven was 19 , Feargal Ó hAnnluain was 20 , Patrick Parle was 26 , George Keegan was 27 and Sean Sabhat was 28....... (MORE LATER).

KING OF THE YUPPIE HEARTLAND....... !

Dessie O'Malley would expect to draw his support almost exclusively from middle-class areas , but if he is to succeed in getting the twenty seats he hopes for that support base would also have to include working-class areas , especially in Dublin . On the evidence of one day spent with PD leader O'Malley ,that working-class support is unlikely to be forthcoming.From 'IN DUBLIN' ELECTION SPECIAL , 1987. By Derek Dunne.

Back on the election bus , Dessie explains that he was once told never to say a 'billion' when he was appearing on television - that it is better to say 'one-thousand-million' , rather than a 'billion' , because "people have no understanding of that kind of money ."

The next stop are the Sisters Of Charity old folks home in Dublin Four : Dessie is shown around by a nun and looks clearly out of place and uncomfortable , especially when a nun takes him into a corner for a private talk . But there are at least one-hundred votes and he thinks he might swing them . " I want to talk to you very privately over here..." , says the nun , and Dessie spends at least five minutes in the corner with her .

One handler refers to the whole idea of being among the nuns as 'a good move' . By now , Dessie has tired of the bus and prefers to take the car . Michael McDowell has been in the crowd surrounding O' Malley , and is introduced to all not as being a member of the PD's , but as being 'belonging to Dessie O' Malley's party..'....... (MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC....... Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals . From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

RUC Chief John Hermon claims that the RUC are present at republican funerals to prevent any appearance by a (P)IRA firing party, but the RUC were aware , as everyone was aware , that the (P)IRA had already paid their last respects to their fallen comrade with a volley of shots the previous Sunday , and had made it clear that they would be playing no formal part in the funeral .

And John Hermon's excuse cut no ice with those who recalled that the RUC had already attacked several other republican funerals on the same pretext , again though they were well aware that (P)IRA firing parties had already paid their last tribute .

Since December 1983 , a period of little more than three years , more than a score of republican or nationalist funerals had been attacked as a matter of British policy : sometimes the RUC's pretext was to demand the removal of beret and gloves from the coffin or , when there was no beret , the Tricolour , but they also attacked private funerals , such as that of Volunteer Jim McKernan (in September 1986), where no flag was on display . The RUC attacked the funerals not just of Volunteers who died on active service but also those of republican veterans . On rare occasions when the RUC gave undertakings to bereaved families that they would allow a dignified burial , they broke those undertakings.......(MORE LATER).

Thursday, November 22, 2007

As a publicly-funded institution , RTE leaves a lot to be desired : the coverage it provides could be said to be based on the political 'prevailing winds' of the day . It has consistently and spectacularly failed to either report on what it apparently views as 'delicate' issues or will cover same in a light which is favourable to its own administration and the administration-of-the-day in Leinster House .Regardless of the importance of the issue - whether it concerns the political situation in the north-east of this isle,the 'Shell To Sea' issue or the State Health Service (or lack of same) , RTE , it seems , will do its utmost to spare the blushes of its political colleagues and part-paymasters in Kildare Street .With this in mind , an anti-censorship picket will be placed on the RTE Studios in Donnybrook , Dublin , on Saturday 1st December 2007 , between the hours of 12 Noon and 1.30pm . If you can't make it on the day , check-back here on this blog on the following day where we will publish a piece on how the picket went . Just don't expect it to be covered on RTE.....

Almost 12 months since it was 'only' thirty years.....

It began - properly structured and organised - in 1976 ,as a 'fundraiser with a difference' combined with the need to gain extra publicity for a situation which was then - as now - making world headlines . Those that sat down together in early September 1976 to tighten-up the then 'hit-and-miss' affair were a dedicated team who fully understood that to fail in their business would not only bring derision on them and the issue they sought to highlight , but would give their enemy a publicity coup which they would exploit to the fullest extent . With that in mind , the team persevered - favours were called-in , guarantees were secured , provisions obtained and word dispatched to like-minded individuals in the near-locale . At the appointed time on the agreed day - 12 Noon , Christmas Day 1976 - a soon-to-be 31-years-young event was 'born'.......The CABHAIR Christmas Day Swim is , thankfully , still going strong and will be , as mentioned , 31-years-young on December 25th next! Photographs of last years event can be viewed here and , if you can't make it to the actual swim itself , you might consider posting a donation to the following address : CABHAIR Irish Republican Prisoners Dependants Fund 223 Parnell Street,Dublin 1.Ireland.Thank You,Go Raibh Maith Agat, Sharon.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The London 'Observer' newspaper on December 15 , 1957 , carried an article on brain-washing in which this statement appeared : " The real tortures are isolation and solitary confinement , prolonged interrogation , humiliation..." Now read the story of the Coalisland youths again and see if the description fits .

Britain may have gotten away with torture in Cyprus and other places , but she won't get away with it in Ireland . This isn't Kenya . There are Irish exiles with powerful voices in every corner of the globe and they will see to it that this story is told in full . The Irish people at home will not stand for it either . Our job now is to expose British atrocities in Ireland and tell the world the full story .

[END of 'THE COALISLAND STORY : British Torture In Ireland'](Next : 'Republican Martyrs of 1957' - from the same source)

KING OF THE YUPPIE HEARTLAND....... !

Dessie O'Malley would expect to draw his support almost exclusively from middle-class areas , but if he is to succeed in getting the twenty seats he hopes for that support base would also have to include working-class areas , especially in Dublin . On the evidence of one day spent with PD leader O'Malley ,that working-class support is unlikely to be forthcoming.From 'IN DUBLIN' ELECTION SPECIAL , 1987. By Derek Dunne.

RTE interview Dessie O' Malley walking around ; he now believes that the PD's can get more than twenty seats . One on-looker remarks that he has his work cut out for himself to get that number of seats . Dessie shakes hands with a travelling woman who is standing minding her own business . " Would ya dance with that woman...? " , asks a passing cyclist , which prompts Dessie's handlers to make snide remarks and jokes about the woman's appearance . Of such are the PD's made.

There are ten minutes to spare now , and Dessie is clearly not too enthusiastic about getting on the bus again . It is also clear that he is getting fed up , but they eventually move off . In Ranelagh , the PD's are in the heart of 'Yuppieland' : there are enough middle-class voters here who know the local candidate Michael McDowell and who will vote for him , although it is unlikely that he will be elected.

Dessie , it emerges , believes in diagnostic medicine more than most - he believes that you can have better medical services with less money being involved. One journalist remarks that Dessie O Malley sounds exactly like Margaret Thatcher before she came to power in Britain - that she rose on a middle class vote and proceeded to screw everyone on social welfare . Dessie looks to be heading the same way , and he is the 'Man Of The Moment' . Then he made a comment about people's lack of understanding where money is concerned.......(MORE LATER).

REPUBLICAN MOURNERS DEFEAT RUC. Between December 1983 and May 1987 , over 25 republican or nationalist funerals were systematically attacked by the RUC as a matter of deliberate British policy . The objective was to drive mourners off the streets so that later Britain could claim dwindling support for republicanism as 'evidenced' by the small numbers attending IRA funerals . As Jane Plunkett reports , the opposite happened . More and more people came out to defend the remains of republican dead , the RUC were exposed as being as brutal and sectarian as ever , and these two factors , combined with damaging international news coverage , eventually forced the British government to reverse its policy of attacking republican funerals . From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.

The May 1987 attack by the RUC on the funeral of (P)IRA Volunteer Finbarr McKenna was the pre-planned and bloody culmination of a strategy launched by the British government over three years earlier . But , paradoxically , Finbarr McKenna's funeral also signalled that strategy's defeat .

Once again , thousands of mourners , and in particular a bereaved family , had shown to the world that - despite escalating repression - the determination of nationalists in the occupied Six Counties to bury their dead with honour and dignity was as strong as ever . On May 6th , 1987 , the world's TV cameras recorded scenes reminiscent of South Africa as steel-helmeted RUC men batoned and kicked peaceful mourners .

Outside the Royal Victoria Hospital, in full view of horrified staff , the RUC fired at least five plastic bullets at head height into the crowd , on the pretext of a few stones being thrown . Several people were carried into the hospital with blood streaming from head wounds : at least 19 people altogether received hospital treatment and one of them had his shoulder broken by one of the bullets . Many more were too afraid of RUC harassment to seek hospital treatment . Gerry Adams stated that the aim of the RUC attack was "...purely to terrorise the nationalist people off their own streets.."('1169...' Comment : ....which is not the job of the 'PSNI' , of course..)(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

As a publicly-funded institution , RTE leaves a lot to be desired : the coverage it provides could be said to be based on the political 'prevailing winds' of the day . It has consistently and spectacularly failed to either report on what it apparently views as 'delicate' issues or will cover same in a light which is favourable to its own administration and the administration-of-the-day in Leinster House .Regardless of the importance of the issue - whether it concerns the political situation in the north-east of this isle,the 'Shell To Sea' issue or the State Health Service (or lack of same) , RTE , it seems , will do its utmost to spare the blushes of its political colleagues and part-paymasters in Kildare Street .With this in mind , an anti-censorship picket will be placed on the RTE Studios in Donnybrook , Dublin , on Saturday 1st December 2007 , between the hours of 12 Noon and 1.30pm . If you can't make it on the day , check-back here on this blog on the following day where we will publish a piece on how the picket went . Just don't expect it to be covered on RTE.....

Monday, November 19, 2007

A father and son arrested in Fermanagh within the past month were both brutally treated by the RUC : the father is now in the Omagh Mental Hospital . A youth arrested in Kilkeel , County Down , had to be shifted to a mental hospital after his release from the RUC . A noted brain specialist has testified to his condition .

James Donnelly , Leo McGarry , James Hackett , Paddy Timony and Denis Cassin , of Armagh City , who were arrested on December 7 , 1957 , were kept in tubs of cold water for four hours , were then taken out and , while still naked , had their feet stamped on and their bodies punched . Later they were beaten with rubber truncheons . These things are happening in Occupied Ireland . The Coalisland youths may be put in the dock any day now on capital charges but , as yet , they are held uncharged and untried .

In Fermanagh , youths arrested during the last 'round-up' are also uncharged and untried , but this has not prevented Stormont declaring that four of them will be charged and will receive stiff sentences . British 'justice' in Ireland now follows the rule - '...announce the sentence first and then charge and try them.. ' Willing stooges rejoicing in the name of 'judges' are ready to dispense the required sentence whenever called upon.......(MORE LATER).

KING OF THE YUPPIE HEARTLAND....... !

Dessie O'Malley would expect to draw his support almost exclusively from middle-class areas , but if he is to succeed in getting the twenty seats he hopes for that support base would also have to include working-class areas , especially in Dublin . On the evidence of one day spent with PD leader O'Malley ,that working-class support is unlikely to be forthcoming.From 'IN DUBLIN' ELECTION SPECIAL , 1987. By Derek Dunne.

In the South Inner City of Dublin , about half-a-dozen anti-Section 31 protestors emerge as if from the woodwork : Dessie's handlers are panicked . One young protestor stands in the doorway in front of O' Malley demanding to know his view of Section 31 . The entire world and his wife knows Dessie's view on Section 31 . The handlers push Dessie forward , and another handler bursts his trousers when he tries to kick the young protestor who , eventually , is hoisted backwards to disappear from view . Dessie is shook by the affair . It is claimed on the news that he got his suit torn , even though there is no evidence of this . Not one protestor laid a hand on him - he was pushed only by his own people .

He goes on with the canvass : he enters a workshop where there are kids doing all sorts of 'wurk' , but none of them are old enough to vote . Still , it's a great photo opportunity . He moves on to the Winstanley Shoe Co-Op , where he declares that he is very much in favour of self help . He and his team go on what is known as a 'walkabout' in the factory - this is another opportunity for him to meet the people and impress them .

By now , the gardai are on the scene . Here and there people avoid Dessie . Women run into a shop away from him . The reception he gets is anything but friendly and the image of him going to meet the people with a garda escort hardly conforms to the image that the PD's would like to project . One of his handlers remarks ruefully - " People are turning their backs and walking away..." Dessie then goes off to lunch with a priest from the locality , never one to forget the power of prayer . When he emerges , it's with hairbrush in hand , which he sneaks to a handler before anyone can get a photo of it . Another photo opportunity missed ! One woman wishes him the best of luck . The handlers are constantly pushing the other PD candidates into the picture line-up so that they will get their faces across . Most of them are completely unknown.......(MORE LATER).

THE EAMON BYRNE CASE .......Eamon Byrne , a 19-year-old Dubliner , was shot dead by a garda detective during an attempted robbery at the B+I terminal in November 1982 . For his family , obtaining justice , or simply the truth , could be a long and expensive process.From 'The Phoenix' magazine , July 1983 .

The outcome of the inquest on Eamon Byrne hardly came as a surprise . Five years ago , an inquest on 16-year-old Aidan White , who died of meningitis after being illegally detained in garda custody for nearly a week , absolved the garda officers concerned of any responsibility for his death : the jury on that occasion rejected riders from counsel representing the dead boy's mother and the ICCL calling for clearer guidelines on the arrest and detention of juveniles in custody .

In Eamon Byrne's case , the jury also rejected riders from counsel for the dead man's wife and the ICCL , calling for an examination of the procedures for equipping and training garda in the use of firearms . For Elizabeth Byrne , obtaining justice , or simply the truth about her husband's death , could be a long and expensive process .

Sunday, November 18, 2007

As a publicly-funded institution , RTE leaves a lot to be desired : the coverage it provides could be said to be based on the political 'prevailing winds' of the day . It has consistently and spectacularly failed to either report on what it apparently views as 'delicate' issues or will cover same in a light favourable to its own administration and the administration-of-the-day in Leinster House .Regardless of the importance of the issue - whether it concerns the political situation in the north-east of this isle,the 'Shell To Sea' issue or the State Health service (or lack of same) , RTE , it seems , will do its utmost to spare the blushes of its political colleagues in Kildare Street .With this in mind , an anti-censorship picket will be placed on the RTE Studios in Donnybrook , Dublin , on Saturday 1st December 2007 , between the hours of 12 Noon and 1.30pm . If you can't make it on the day , check-back here on this blog on the following day where we will publish a piece on how the picket went . Just don't expect it to be covered on RTE.....